Kinshasa, October 30th, 2025 (CPA).– The Congolese government, through the Ministry in charge of Environment, Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy, committed on Thursday to representing the Democratic Republic of Congo in regional and international decision-making forums, notably at COP30, during a conference of civil society organizations held in Kinshasa, the country’s capital. ‘As the minister responsible, I am committed to bringing this voice to national, regional and international decision-making forums, including COP30, so that the recommendations from this conference are integrated into our public policies and governance frameworks,’ said Marie Nyange, Minister in charge of Environment, Sustainable Development and New Climate Economy.
According to her, this meeting is much more than an event: it reflects collective mobilization, a shared conference and a firm commitment to building a just, sustainable and sovereign future for our peoples and our forests. The minister said that the Congo Basin, the planet’s second largest ecological lung, is an invaluable natural and cultural treasure. « At the end of your work, you will adopt the Kinshasa Declaration. This declaration must be a rallying cry. It must embody the voice of indigenous peoples, local communities, civil society organizations, women and young people, who are too often excluded from decisions that affect them. It must call for the recognition of customary rights, transparency, accountability and inclusive climate governance, » she emphasized.
She insisted on the need to make climate finance accessible, equitable and adapted to the realities on the ground. MS Nyange called on donors, governments and international institutions to support development models based on agroecology, local processing, green jobs and community reforestation. ‘I invite you to make this conference a moment of convergence, strategy and solidarity. May each workshop, each panel, each exchange contributes to strengthening our united regional front for climate, forests and governance. Together, we can transform observations into commitments, commitments into actions, and actions into concrete results for our communities and our planet,’ the minister added.
For his part, Georges Milumbu, country coordinator for Greenpeace Africa, reiterated the importance of this conference for civil society organizations, which he said is not just a regional meeting: it is a decisive step in our collective fight for climate justice, forest protection and the dignity of peoples. ‘Our ambition is clear: a sovereign, resilient and ecologically just Africa. But this cannot be achieved without recognizing a fundamental truth: African peoples are among the most vulnerable to the climate crisis, even though they are the least responsible for it,’ he added, stressing that climate justice cannot be separated from financial justice. ‘It is time to rethink the architecture of climate finance so that it truly serves those who, on a daily basis, protect the Earth’s lungs — the forests — and perpetuate African knowledge,’ he continued. At the national level, he said, « we welcome the efforts undertaken by our governments to reform forest governance and improve natural resource management.»
For more than two decades, Greenpeace Africa has been working alongside communities, civil society organizations and African institutions to defend environmental rights, promote sustainable development models and make Africa’s voice heard in decision-making forums.